Young dancers have to start somewhere and in Queensland we have that sorted.
For the past 90 years the country’s oldest company, Ballet Theatre Queensland, has become an invaluable training platform for young performers aspiring to careers in ballet.
So BTQ occupies a unique position in both the history and future of Australian dance. It enables young dancers to experience what the professional environment is like, from the audition to weekly rehearsals with industry practitioners as they prepare, each year, for a full-scale production with live music at QPAC.
That will be the case again in January for 61 dedicated dancers aged from eight to 22 when they perform artistic director Clare Morehen’s adaptation of The Sleeping Beauty, with music by the Cadenza Chamber Players in the Concert Hall at QPAC.
Morehen, a former principal artist with Queensland Ballet, says she loves inspiring the next generation of artists at the beginning of their journey. But it’s not easy.
“We essentially rehearse for as long as any company would to produce a new work, only we are creating it with young artists,” Morehen says. “I never had this kind of experience as a kid and I believe so strongly in building confidence and getting them on stage knowing that they can do it, and having the absolute best time.”
Sixteen-year-old senior dancer Sophia Gougoulas says it’s a great opportunity. “To get these opportunities at such a young age, you just want to do it for as long as you can,” Gougoulas says.
Now in her sixth year with BTQ, Gougoulas is thrilled to be following in Morehen’s footsteps playing villain Carabosse, as well as a fairy in two other casts.
“I love the feeling of being a fairy,” she says. “Little me would be so happy right now. You start as a junior and then get to do what you wanted when you were little watching it.
“But as you get older, you do want to do more roles that really challenge you, and that’s what I love about Carabosse.”
It’s a big commitment but she says “rehearsals are such fun”.
BTQ’s independent standard of excellence sets it apart. It has no dance studio affiliation so anyone studying the requisite ballet grade can try out and be assessed on merit. It also offers memorial scholarships in honour of founder Phyllis Danaher and Jodie White-Bivona, who was artistic director with husband Boris Bivona from 2002 to 2012. There is a means-tested bursary.
Reflecting the company’s proven pedigree, its patron is former artistic director of The Australian Ballet David McAllister. An impressive list of alumni has graced stages around the world. Current performers are scattered among the ranks of leading companies including Paris Opera Ballet, La Scala, The Royal Ballet and, of course, The Australian Ballet and QB.
That connection with QB has been and remains BTQ’s strongest link.
For Morehen, 38, taking up the directorship in 2019 provided the perfect outlet for her passion after she’d hung up her pointe shoes as a principal dancer.
In addition to choreographing, she provides role coaching along with rehearsal director Kim Stokes (another QB alumnus). It’s rare to get this level of insightful instruction from such tender ages.
The young performers also benefit from working with two guest artists and 34 musicians, the latter reinstated last year after a 40-year-hiatus.
BTQ manages all this without any government funding. Relying solely on ticket sales, donations and dance community support is extremely challenging, Morehen acknowledges, and this not-for-profit outfit has launched a funding campaign to help meet production costs.
Get InReview in your inbox – free each Saturday. Local arts and culture – covered.
Thanks for signing up to the InReview newsletter.
She would dearly like to see BTQ supported financially.
“It is my mission to see BTQ prosper and thrive as it so rightly deserves,” she says.
Ballet Theatre Queensland’s The Sleeping Beauty, Concert Hall, QPAC, January 18-20
btq.com.au
Support local arts journalism
Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.
Donate Here
